Cong won’t contest Mainpuri, Kannauj

In a display of “political courtesy” towards Samajwadi Party, which has not fielded any candidate on Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, the Congress, in all likelihood, will not contest from Mainpuri and Kannauj seats in UP. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his daughter-in-law Dimple are contesting from Mainpuri and Kannauj, respectively.

Apart from these two, Varanasi and Allahabad are the only four seats where Congress has not fielded its candidates so far.

The party had earlier asked its district units in Mainpuri and Kannauj to send a list of probable candidates. But as SP did not declare candidates on Rae Bareli and Amethi, being contested by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi respectively, the gesture is going to be reciprocated.

“SP has not fielded any candidate in Rae Bareli and Amethi, we are also likely to reciprocate the same,” Madhusudan Mistry, AICC general secretary and in-charge of UP told The Indian Express.

In 2009 Lok Sabha election also, SP had not fielded candidates against Sonia and Rahul. It had also not fielded candidates against two other leaders — BJP’s Rajnath Singh in Ghaziabad and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary in Mathura.

However, this time, SP has declared candidates in 78 out of 80 seats. A fortnight back, CM Akhilesh Yadav had admitted that his party would not field candidate against Sonia and Rahul.

Though the Congress had not contested four seats in SP strong hold — Etawah, Mainpuri, Firozabad and Kannauj — in 2009, it had fielded Raj Babbar in Firozabad byelection against Akhilesh’s wife Dimple who had lost the election. Later, Dimple won Kannauj seat vacated by her husband Akhilesh after 2012 Assembly election.

Mulayam had recently declared that apart from Mainpuri, he would also contest election from Azamgarh, where Congress has already announced Arvind Jaiswal as its candidate.

TMC fields 26-yr-old woman from Amethi

LUCKNOW: After feilding 31-year-old journalist from Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s seat Rae Bareli, the Trinamool Congress has fielded a young woman candidate against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. Chhaya Singh, 26, is the party’s candidate from Amethi, confirmed party state president Shyam Sundar Sharma. A first timer, Chhaya Singh is born and brought up in Amethi. With a double masters in English and Hindi literature, Chhaya is mother of a one-year-old. (ENS)